State College Coma
by yetti
Summary: Rachel finds out she has a place at Julliard, but she can't afford it. Devastated, she wanders around aimlessly, looking for a hero... Previously a one-shot, now multi-chap. Future fic :D
1. Chapter 1

_Never done a one shot before, never really liked the idea of writing what is basically one chap and then giving up, but I was bored and short on time, and then this idea came into my head._

_So, here it goes:

* * *

_

The whole school was buzzing, which was ironic, because Rachel had dreamed her whole life of being important enough to warrant a gossip trail that reached every student, and now that it was finally happening she could be happy about it. Because it came at literally the worst moment of her life.

She'd thought being slushied every day had been bad.

She'd thought being called Man-hands and Ru-Paul on a regular basis had been bad.

She'd thought coming last at Regional's in her sophomore year and nearly losing Glee, the one good thing she had in her life, had been bad.

She'd thought Finn dumping her three months into their senior year to get back with Quinn after she'd rejoined the Cheerios had been bad.

But she'd been wrong.

No, the worst moment of her life was the moment she opened her letter from Julliard. She'd gotten in, of course; she had had no doubt she wouldn't. What was really bad was the letter that came attached. It read:

_Miss Berry,_

_We were extremely pleased to have such a wonderful application, and while you are by far the student with most potential to succeed here at Julliard, we – being stuck up and somewhat self-involved – happened to have noticed the small part of the application form that mentioned your father's recent and unfortunate financial situation. So, as we are selfish, and probably don't want to think about what a great student we are losing, we regret to inform you that your place at the Julliard School is no longer available._

_But thanks anyway for applying. It brightened our day, I am sure._

_Best regards,_

_Some Snobby Bitch_

Rachel was paraphrasing, of course, but she felt bad for being unnecessarily harsh to the financial adviser. It wasn't her fault that there was a recession and her Daddy – the better paid of her two fathers – was laid-off a month before applications could be sent off.

This moment of guilt lasted only a minute, mind you, because then Rachel was reminded that she could no longer go to her dream school; essentially ruining her life, and then the tumble into darkness and despair began all over again.

* * *

Puck was among the first to hear, being an ex-Glee member; he was a year older than most of the group, and was working full-time now as a pool cleaner. Only now he had a business, with employees to do the actual cleaning and a client list that pretty much covered the whole of Lima.

"What. The. Fuck?" Puck emphasised each word as he spoke across his counter to Santana, who was both eager and (being accidentally tainted by the Gleeks' friendly nature) somewhat appalled to spread the news of Rachel's predicament.

"Totally not going to Julliard." She was speaking in a higher pitched voice than she ever had before. "Her dads are broke or something, and now she's just wandering around the school in, like, a state-school-coma."

Puck shook his head. "And she _didn't_ get a scholarship? No fucking way!"

Santana agreed vehemently, and the pair parted with a few crude innuendos.

Puck was dazed all morning, and he didn't even care about Rachel. Imagine how she must be doing! And that's all he could think about. Was she okay? Not that he cared…

* * *

Rachel hadn't brushed her hair that morning. It took her until third period to realise, and even then she didn't care enough to brush it. What was the point? What possible reason did she have anymore to brush her pointless hair in her pointless life?

Mr Schuester, being the 'cool' teacher that he must be, because he had an in with the students, had heard through some students in Glee what had happened.

"Rachel?" He approached her in the hallway as she pondered shaving her head to save from brushing in the future.

She stared into space for a few seconds before her eyes focused on his face. "Yes?"

There was no expression in her voice.

Mr Schuester smiled weakly. "Are you okay? I heard about… Well, is there anything I can do?"

Rachel shook her head and began walking past him. "Frankly Mr Shue, there is nothing that anyone less than a God could do, and you're just not a God."

She left him there dumbstruck so that she could make it to class on time and not actually have to rush. Being constantly in transit meant less thinking and less time to ponder how her life could have ended to badly, and so early on.

Rachel got home at around four o'clock (she'd walked home to have something to do, now that all of her classes and rehearsals were cancelled because they had no money) to find a small envelope on her doorstep. She picked it up slowly for fear it was a prank, but found nothing nasty inside but a letter.

She pulled it out and examined it. And then did a double take.

This letter was from Julliard. It said her tuition fees had been paid for her entire college experience, and that there was a student bank account in her name. They tanked her for sorting everything out and wished her the best of luck at the Julliard School.

She rushed inside.

"Daddy? Dad?" She ran into the kitchen and found both men reading newspapers and drinking coffee. "Did you do this?"

The men took the letter from her and read it between them, smiles gradually growing on each of their faces.

"No." Rachel's Daddy told her. "We really don't have that kind of money… There's no way this was from us."

Dad agreed. "You must have a college-fee guardian angel!"

Rachel beamed. Maybe her life would be perfect after all.

* * *

Looking at his apartment for the last time, Puck sighed.

He snatched up the last box and headed out the door, almost running into his mom on the other side.

"This is the last one." He sighed.

Puck's mom shook her head as they walked back to the car. "I just don't understand it. I thought your business was doing well?"

Puck nodded. "It is, I was just… being over indulgent. Too much beer and pizza, you know."

With a look of suspicion in her eye, Puck's mom grunted. She'd always had a way of telling when her son had been lying, and when she should be asking more, but this time she felt as though he were hiding something… good from her. Something… kind. As if…. She didn't know, but she'd let him get away with moving back in if it meant he was being a better person, and more importantly a better Jew.

"Okay, Noah." She opened the door to his apartment building for him. "Well, we'll get through this. No more _beer_ and _pizza_…"

Puck got the idea that she knew he wasn't being honest, and gave her a grateful look for not delving further. He might tell her at some point, but for now, he'd maintain his badass status. Just now, he'd be in his old bedroom again.

He sighed to himself. Julliard had better be worth it; those god damn tuition fees had cleaned him out, and then some.

Times would be hard for a while as he paid off the debt, but it was worth it. Because, no matter how long he'd denied it for in the past, he loved Rachel Berry. And now she would be happy, she would be living out her dream life at her dream college.

He smiled. And maybe someday he'd find her, and tell her what he did for her.

But, until then, he'd make himself worthy for the great Rachel Berry.

* * *

_Anyways, I thought this was a really nice idea, but I just haven't the time to extend it, unless you are okay waiting a few months between chaps (maybs a bit of a whatever, can't actually remember the word. my internet broke down, and now it's morning, and i'm tired...) _

_So please REVIEW to let me know what cha thought, maybs to ncourage me to do more one shots? i dunno  
_


	2. Chapter 2

_Back by popular-enough demand, and I kind of got into the story too, so here goes chap 1 of the original one-shot (told you I didn't do one-shots). We'll call the other chap an introduction/test… so yeah.

* * *

_

Rachel burst off the stage, for the first time in her entire life speechless to describe how she felt.

Just two months out of Julliard, she'd made it; the curtains had just been closed on her first (of many, based on the directors, other actors and audience's reaction to her voice and stage presence) Broadway show. She was playing Rizzo in the latest version of Grease, and had blown them away.

She didn't want to brag (but of course she did really), but it seemed like when she stood forward, she had received a louder cheer than any other characters had. She couldn't entirely chock that up to her acting and singing abilities: the fact that Rizzo is naturally a popular character was of course a contributing factor. Nonetheless, there was at least one cat call from the audience, and – while it was of course vile and grossly inappropriate – she found it surprisingly flattering.

The cast met in the small room beside the stage where they waited for it to be their turn on stage and commenced an after show ceremony, where they congratulated Rachel on her first Broadway show, and generally celebrated a successful evening.

Afterwards, one of the stage hands whispered in Rachel's ear that somebody was waiting in her changing room and that she'd better go see him quickly.

Rachel pulled the director aside to tell him where she was going.

"There's someone to see me in my dressing room, Mr Carthy. Just letting you know that's where I'll be." She patted his arm and hurried off before he could complain.

That was the one downside to this part; the director had a creepy obsession with knowing where she was at all times. In her third rehearsal she had popped to the toilet when she wasn't needed – they were going through a love scene between Danny and Sandy – and he'd flipped out. Now she had to inform him every time she was on the clock and she had to leave the room, which was normally when he chose to strike up a lengthy conversation with her in an attempt to discourage her departure.

Rachel was out of the room in time to avoid said chat this time, and heading down the hallway to the dressing room she shared with the girl who played Sandy, Caroline Hecholls.

Rachel pushed open the door and sashayed in to avoid the piles of roses that covered every surface. They were probably for Carol: her fiancé was really romantic, which sometimes translated to really over-the-top acts of affection that would be sweet if they were still courting, but they'd been engaged for two years.

Rachel spotted a note, and – hoping for just a second somebody had thought of her – had a peek, but no such luck. Sandy was one loved gal.

Behind the piles of foliage, Rachel spotted the one person she wanted to see there more than anyone else she could possibly think of.

* * *

Puck had been waiting four years for this. The night Rachel performed for the first time on Broadway, officially reaching her dream of becoming a star, making all of his efforts worth while.

Firstly, it had been the money issue. At this point, Puck realised what he'd been denying to himself all the years he'd known Rachel… That he was totally and completely in love with her. Then, when his business went down the toilet because of his crappy financial situation, Puck realised the only way to make himself worthy of the star metaphor incarnate was to get a real job that paid real, steady money, and pay off his debts and start earning money, and what better place to do so than the same city Rachel studied. By some fluke, he got such a job in his first week in New York, and it paid better than he'd even thought possible. This was when he found out that he was unbelievably talented at selling cars.

Thinking he was on the home straight, with no more debt and a fair amount of savings in the bank, Puck figured he was on the home straight. He just had to wait for Rachel to get somewhere he could reach now, right?

Wrong. He bumped into her – totally unplanned and accidental, cough, cough – and they got to talking. He was pleased to find her happy and well-adjusted, and glad she noticed how much he'd changed and matured, until she mentioned her boyfriend.

Of course she had a boyfriend. She's fucking hot, and any repelling features – such as a undying need to succeed and become a star – was negated at that school, because it was basically a place to put everyone in America who was just like her. Damn.

So, his next task was to keep her single, and while the slushy facials seemed to work last time, he didn't think he'd be able to keep it up while maintaining a full-time job. Plus, she'd barely forgiven him for the high school attacks; she'd never forget if he sent it to college with her.

His only option was to just break up her relationships. It was cruel, selfish and awkward, but necessary. Very necessary.

And so started Rachel's spout of bad love. It started with Harry the cheater, who slept with a hooker (paid for by Puck). Then Hustov the illegal immigrant, who was deported before their third date (the authorities received an anonymous tip…). And most recently was Jesse St. James, the return, who ironically broke themselves up because there is only so much limelight, and that much need for attention is not good in a relationship.

Essentially, Puck's whole life for the past four years had led up to this moment, the moment he would finally be worthy of Rachel Berry. Now he could at long last ask her out. Nothing was going to ruin this for him.

He'd lined everything up. He sent one hundred red roses to her dressing room with a note saying:

My Sweet Caroline,

I knew you'd make it.

Love always.

He's called ahead to make sure he could get in and see her, so he could visit after sitting in his pre-booked front row seats he'd had for the month and a half since he'd found out she had the part of Rizzo.

All was left was to await her answer, and if she said no… She wouldn't, but if she did, he'd change her mind somehow. There was no way this wouldn't work.

* * *

Rachel stared at her father. "Daddy, You came! You said you wouldn't, but you did! I'm so glad!"

She rushed forward and threw herself into his open arms.

"Proud of you, Star." She smiled into his chest.

She'd missed being called by the nickname her two dads had bestowed upon her.

Her dad held her for a moment longer before loosening his grip and pulling away. His face was no longer a grin.

"There's no easy way…" He couldn't look his daughter in the eye.

Rachel's eyebrows pulled together in concern. "What's wrong, Daddy?"

He took a few breaths to pull himself together. "I'm so sorry to have to tell you like this, Star, but your Dad had a heart attack last night. He p…" He paused to regain his composure again. "He passed away early this morning."

Rachel stared at her remaining father, unable to react.

* * *

_Sorry about the sadness, but I figured to make this into a chap fic I'd have to spice it up a bit. Continue reading to get more flavour (note the attempted continuation of the 'spice' metaphor. That's style right there). _

_Reviews please :D  
_


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